Direct Payments – Internal Procedure

What to do when someone in the receipt of Direct Payments dies.

  1. When you are informed that a service user in receipt of Direct Payments has died, it is very important that you check that we have the name of the executor and (if there is one) the solicitor. Finance needs this information for correspondence purposes.
  2. You will need to enter the date of the death, end all of the services and do a case closure episode on framework i. A task needs to be sent to the DP Finance Team so that payments can be stopped.
  3. If there is no information about the executor and solicitor available, the DP Finance Team will call the Next of Kin of the deceased to find out if the individual had a will, who the executor is and the name of the solicitor involved. If the deceased did not have a will then the Next of Kin or relative will be advised that they will need to obtain probate (please see below).
  4. The DP Finance Team then sends a letter to the executor and the solicitor (lettertosolicitorrichmond.doc & letter to executor.doc).
  5. Once the Financial information has been received, the Finance Team will assess what payments still need to be made and will then calculate if there is any money that the individual needs to return to the council.
  6. The Finance Team writes to the individual to ask them to return the calculated amount to the council.

Obtaining probate

1. If someone dies without making a will, they are said to have died 'intestate'.

2. Usually a close relative like a spouse, child or parent will be able to apply for the legal right to sort out the estate of the person who has died.

3. In order to be able to administer someone's estate the friend or relative will need to apply to the Probate Registry for a 'Grant of Letters of Administration'.

It is advisable that they obtain a solicitor to help them through the process. If they have a solicitor, The Finance Team willwrite to the solicitor (same letter as above).On receipt of the grant the individual will become the 'administrator' of the estate. The grant provides proof to banks, building societies and other organisations that the individual has authority to access and distribute funds that were held in the deceased's name. They will then be able to access the DirectPaymentbank account and make any payments that need to be made.

The same letters will then need to be sent to the administrator that was sent to the executor.

4. Once the Financial information has been received, the Finance Team will assess what payments still need to be made and will then calculate if there is any money that the individual needs to return to the council.

5. The Finance Team writes to the individual to ask them to return the calculated amount to the council.

Sept 07 CM